Sharpie Messages
by kotobaka
Summary: Post-Its, a yellow scarf, and a little trig homework help go a long way to making someone's day a little brighter. The holidays are on their way, and Riku learns in the end it's the little things that count.


Hello everyone! Wow, I really haven't posted anything in _ages, _have I? Here's a rikuroku fluff fic, one of my fave lesser-known pairings in KH ^_^ I meant to post this in, like, December, but RL's sucked bigtime so I haven't had time to finish it before now. Warnings now for some very minor swearing. The standalone periods mean a change in scene. Enjoy!

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><p><span>Sharpie Messages<span>

Riku strolled into the classroom just as the bell rang signaling the first period of the day. Walking up to his usual spot in the back of the classroom, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and threw it onto the desk with a loud thump and sat down. He dumped his bag on the floor next to him and dug out his binder and notebook, flipping to the page where he had neatly copied the homework assigned the previous day. Most of the problems were done, it was just the last two that were giving him trouble—he never would understand trigonometry beyond the basic cosines, sines, and tangents.

Riku puzzled over the cotangent of theta until his eyes began to blur from lack of sleep. Dr. Xehanort was late for once, and Riku was not about to be caught without his work done after what had happened to Demyx that one time back in October. He yawned and rubbed his eyes; he could really go for some tea. As if right on cue, his daily dose of caffeine arrived in the form of a short boy with bright eyes and impossibly spiky brown hair.

"Morning, Riku!" Sora chirped, slamming his hands down on the white haired boy's desk and bending down to look him straight in his sleepy eyes.

Riku jolted awake and blinked furiously. "Hey, Sora," he muttered, "Any idea where Dr. Xehanort is?"

"Nope, but that just means we have more time until this boring class starts!" Sora proclaimed, flashing a bright smile and looking down at the notebook on Riku's desk. "You still working on that?" he asked, poking the paper like it was some odd specimen from Professor Marluxia's botany class.

Riku shrugged and dashed off a few numbers, closing the notebook and saying, "Nah, just finished it. It's nothing too hard."

Sora stood up straight and sat on the desk next to Riku, swinging his legs back and forth. "Really? It's easy for you? You must be some kind of genius or something, I'd never—"

"Ahem. I kinda need to put my stuff there. "

Sora twisted in his seat and looked down. "Oh, sorry man," he said and jumped down from the desk and grinned at the blonde boy with hair nearly as messy and spiky as himself.

"It's… fine," the blonde boy said quietly, turning back to his own notebook.

"In your seats!" Dr. Xehanort barked as he entered the room and took his place at the front of the classroom, "That means you, Sora!"

"Sorry, sir," Sora apologized, scampering off to his desk. Riku's gaze slid over to the blonde boy again. He wasn't in school very often; Riku had heard it was something about a heart murmur. What was his name again?

Dr. Xehanort strode up and down the rows of desks, closely inspecting each student's homework. Riku opened his notebook to the correct page and sat back to wait his turn. His eyelids began to droop. The end of the semester was fast approaching, and the teachers had really been piling on the tests and projects leading up to midterms next week. That made for some sleepless nights and a very tired Riku. He would have drifted off to sleep right there had a faint voice not suddenly brought him back. He listened harder, and there it was again: the blonde kid was muttering a quiet string of curses under his breath as he poured over his last-minute work.

Riku glanced around; Dr. Xehanort was looking over Kairi's work at the moment, there was still plenty of time. He hissed out of the corner of his mouth, "Hey. Over here."

The blonde boy looked up, and at that moment Riku was taken aback at the electric blue eyes that greeted him in hope and desperation. Those eyes were awfully pretty. They were just like Sora's, now that he thought about it. He remembered Sora mentioning a while ago that he had a cousin that went to this school, could this guy be it? Riku blinked to get his bearings and pushed his notebook over to the blonde boy, muttering under his breath, "Here."

If those blue eyes could possibly get any bigger, Riku would have never believed it if he had not seen his neighbor's expression. He smiled—similar to Sora, but quieter somehow—and set to work furiously copying the problems down. He had remarkably messy handwriting, Riku noted. Even in the chicken scratch of his work, Riku could make out a name on the top of the page: Roxas.

Roxas finished copying down the answers just as Dr. Xehanort turned into their row and looked down at their work. He scrutinized Roxas's work, and Riku could have sworn he could see the blonde boy holding his breath. Dr. Xehanort nodded and moved on to Riku's homework. Roxas stared down at Riku's paper, still terrified that their little trick would be found out. But Dr. Xehanort simply nodded and walked up to the front of the room again to begin teaching.

Roxas let out the breath he had been holding and slumped back into his chair. Riku turned to a new page and began taking notes without a second thought as to what had just transpired.

The rest of class was more or less the same as always, with Dr. Xehanort occasionally barking at Sora to stay awake and Kairi asking all the questions. Riku pulled his jacket around him and tried not to shiver; his seat was right next to the window, and it never failed to chill him to the bone every morning. He glanced outside at the school grounds covered in a mushy blanket of snow. It really was kind of gross, all the snow was starting to melt but the frozen grass was only barely poking out of the blanket of grey.

The bell rang and Riku put his things away in his bag and left the classroom, heading straight to his locker. He always kept an extra scarf and pair of gloves at school in case he got too frozen, and today it seemed that he would finally be able to make use of them. He spun the lock around and pulled the metal door open, pushing his backpack inside and pulling out a pale yellow scarf and matching gloves.

"Hi, Riku, I didn't see you this morning!"

Riku turned around to see Kairi standing there. He wound the scarf around his neck and pulled on the gloves. "I got here late," he said.

Kairi smiled and said, "That's fine then, you're here now! What're you doing for winter break?" she asked as they started walking down the hall to botany class.

Riku shrugged. "Probably nothing much," he said, "Just hanging out at home, shopping for gifts, putting up with relatives drunk on too much eggnog. The usual."

Kairi giggled. "I'm here all break, too. Sora and I are spending Christmas together, we thought you'd want to join us?"

"You sure? I mean you guys are—"

"N-no, we're not anything," Kairi interrupted him, a blush blooming over her face, "You coming or not?"

"I'll ask. Probably."

Kairi smiled again and bounced up and down to her step. "Great! We'll have to hang out other times at break, too. The three of us haven't done anything all together in ages."

"Yeah," Riku said as they stepped into Professor Marluxia's classroom. It was an odd place, bordering on creepy. All kinds of strange, threatening-looking plants sat on the counters all around the room, and spooky diagrams of more plants adorned the walls. However, no matter how unsettling the rest of the room was, there was always a fat vase on the Professor's desk full of huge red roses. Riku took his customary seat in the back and Kairi claimed her seat in the front next to Sora.

The bell rang and Professor Marluxia swept into the room exactly on time and dived into his lecture without missing a beat, sending the students into a flurry in search of paper and pen. Riku flipped open his science notebook and started copying down notes. This would definitely be on the exam next week, but he just couldn't get himself to care enough. Instead, he gradually began to doodle in the margins of his notes, and soon enough found himself making a Christmas gift list.

Riku tapped his pen on his desk, staring down at his list. So far he had Sora and Kairi written down, and he scribbled in spots for his parents, but that was still an awfully short list. Maybe he could get a small gift for Mr. Leonhart, his advisor? Riku wrote him down, too. The silver haired boy gazed sadly down at his tiny holiday shopping list. He really couldn't think of anyone else he would give gifts too. The thought was awfully depressing. Riku sighed and turned his attention back to Professor Marluxia's spirited lecture on the Venus flytrap's eating habits.

Riku dragged himself back to his locker later that day to drop off his books to go to lunch with Sora and Kairi. Today was turning out to be extremely dull—maybe he'd just fake sick and head back home to start studying for midterms. He reached up to spin the lock open when something caught his eye. Riku blinked and reached up to peel the bright yellow Post-It note off his locker door. The words were written in black sharpie, and the sharp smell of permanent markers still stuck to the note. It was also written in extremely messy handwriting—chicken scratch.

_Thanks four the homwork hlp._

Riku raised his eyebrow at the note's horrible spelling, but a tiny smile played across his lips regardless. He yanked his locker open and had to catch his backpack as it fell right on top of him. A few binders fell out all over the hallway. Riku shoved his backpack back into his locker and tried to ignore the stares and laughter coming at him from other students passing by.

Riku gathered up his binders and balanced them on top of his backpack. He looked down at his hand and frowned when he saw the Post-It message had gotten crumpled. He tried his best to flatten it out and stuck it up on the inside of his locker, smiling again. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw his own pack of blue Post-It notes and he smiled a little wider. Grabbing the pack and his own silver sharpie, he neatly printed out his own note:

_Sure, anytime. If you need any help just ask._

On his way to lunch, he asked Sora where Roxas's locker was. Surprised, Sora pointed it out and went on his way to the cafeteria with Kairi, Naminee, and Xion. Riku glanced around to make sure no one would notice, then he walked by Roxas's locker and stuck his note to the door among a handful of checkerboard magnets. Riku's step was the tiniest bit lighter as he hurried to catch up with Sora and everyone else.

.

The following day at lunch, Riku slammed his locker shut again and told the rest of the group to go to lunch ahead of him. His eyes had new life in them, something that hadn't been there since the temperature began to drop and the workload had started to pile up. He read over the yellow Post-It in his palm again:

_Could you help me wiht the trig homwork at lnuch?_

Riku clutched his reply note in his hand saying that yes, he would help him out, and practically ran down the hallway to Roxas's locker. He stuck the note onto the metal door right where he had last time and hurried off to the student lounge where he had said to meet him. He reached the lounge and pushed open the door to be greeted by loud shouts and music blaring. The stale, buttery smell of microwave popcorn filled his nose. Riku staked out a spot at one of the tables and set out his books, sitting back to wait.

Soon enough, the door pushed open to let Roxas in. Watching him slink across the lounge was like watching a child at his parents' dinner party, where the conversation was too loud and too far beyond his understanding. The blonde boy looked around anxiously and took the seat next to Riku. He seemed to shrink into his seat, his electric blue eyes darting around the room at every sound and movement.

Riku shifted in his seat, considering his options. Finally, he piled up his books and stood up, saying, "You know, I don't really like the student lounge, either. Any ideas for a new spot?"

Roxas sprang up from his seat, awash with relief. "Um… we could try the library, that's quiet, right?"

"Yeah. Let's go," Riku said, leading the way out of the crowded room. They walked down the hallway side by side, Riku unsure of what to say to break the ice. "You sure you want help in math? I could tutor you in some spelling, too, if you wanted," he joked, grinning at Roxas.

Roxas just shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the linoleum floor, deliberately stepping in the squares and never touching a single line. "Hey, I try," he said quietly, "Dyslexia's not that easy to fix, especially since I'm always sick."

Riku's expression fell and he found himself looking down that the floor, too. Was there anything at all he could say to this guy without alienating him? "S…sorry," he said, "I didn't know, and—"

"Hey, it's fine," Roxas said, brightening a little and looking up, "You said you could help me, right? Nice to know one person doesn't think I'm retarded or something 'cause I can't spell."

"Not even Sora?" Riku said, then immediately regretted it. He didn't want to touch on something bad and make this situation even more awkward.

Roxas shrugged. "Sora's nice about it, I mean he's my cousin. We've gotta put up with all kinds of stuff about each other since we spend so much time together. Axel, too. He knows about it but he doesn't mind at all."

Riku didn't remember Sora mentioning hanging out with Roxas outside of school, now that he thought about it. What else was Sora keeping quiet about in his life at home that Riku didn't know about?

"But that's all kinda depressing, right?" Roxas piped up again, smiling this time. It was a cute smile, one that made Riku's heart beat a little faster. "Why're you dressed like you're going sledding?" Roxas reached up and yanked on Riku's scarf, staring at it in wide-eyed curiosity. Riku stumbled and coughed. Roxas dropped the scarf like it was a live snake, stuttering out an apology: "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

Riku just laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. It's just the heating system in this building, it feels like it never works and leaves us to freeze."

Roxas laughed along with him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's a good idea, maybe I'll start wearing a scarf to school, too? U-unless you don't want people copying you," he added, looking away. Then he met Riku's eyes and smiled again, and Riku's face suddenly felt very warm.

The silver haired boy smiled back and said, "I wouldn't mind at all."

The boys reached the library and claimed a table. Once their books and papers had been spread about, Riku started in on tutoring. Roxas may not have been very academically strong on paper, but he was a fast learner and picked things up quickly. Riku wondered if all his absences were the reason why Roxas oftentimes seemed so uncaring about school. Granted, Riku knew what that was like from his days as a delinquent, but now he was trying to turn that around. Maybe he could help Roxas do the same.

Too soon, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Riku and Roxas packed up their things and hurried off to their separate classes, Riku smiling quietly to himself but thoughts awhirl with what had just happened. Who knew Roxas was such a nice guy? He'd never heard the blonde boy say more than three words to anyone, and here he was jabbering away when asked the right questions. A little bounce in his step, Riku strolled off down the hallway to German. He didn't miss the little Post-It stuck to his locker reading:

_Thanks a ton :)_

He'd have to reply later. Even in the age of email and texting, Riku had to admit he rather liked this crude method of communication between him and Roxas.

"Hey, I saw that little note thing on your locker!" Axel smirked when Riku came into the classroom and took his seat behind the fiery redhead, "You gotta get a phone, man. People text for a reason!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Riku brushed it off and organized his stuff on his desk.

"So who is it?" Axel pressed on eagerly, turning around in his seat to face Riku, "Some girl?"

Riku shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that. It's just a tutoring thing," he said. Though honestly, he wasn't sure how much of a lie or a truth that was.

Axel made a face and turned back around. "You're no fun, Riku. Always gotta have some boring explanation for everything."

Riku was about to retort that Axel didn't have anything better, but thought better of it. Even he himself could admit that he had a pretty boring life, at least he had lately, what with his parents looming over him every second and making him see a therapist once a week because of the stuff he'd gotten mixed up in the previous school year. He sighed and propped his elbow up on his desk, resting his head in his palm. He looked outside; it was finally snowing again. Tomorrow was Friday, which meant that midterms were next week, and then after that was winter break and freedom for two weeks.

Next Friday couldn't come soon enough. Riku vaguely wondered what Roxas was doing for winter break. Maybe he'd want to hang out?

.

The next day saw Riku sitting bundled up in the very back of the math room, like always. Another fixture of the room was back to normal as well, he noticed with a sinking feeling: Roxas's seat was empty. He considered asking Sora if he was okay, but decided it was better to just leave the topic be. There hadn't even been a note on his locker that morning, even though Riku had stuck one on Roxas's locker wishing him a good morning. Maybe he'd gone to the hospital again—was something wrong?

Riku zipped up his coat and crossed his arms, trying to warm up. He watched the rest of the students, finally settling on Sora and Kairi talking in the front row. Sora glanced over at him, but quickly looked away. Nevertheless, Riku had been able to catch a glimpse of worry in his expression. Something really was wrong; Riku couldn't remember the last time Sora had actually been worried about something. It could have been all the way back when Riku had started spending more time with Axel, Zexion and their group and getting into trouble.

The bell rang, and Dr. Xehanort walked into the room and picked up his clipboard to take attendance. He called out everyone's name in alphabetical order, glaring at each student as they called out that they were here. "Riku?"

"Here, sir," Riku responded.

"Roxas?"

Silence. Dr. Xehanort looked up from his clipboard and narrowed his eyes at the empty seat. Then he turned to Sora. "Where is Roxas?" he said gruffly, "Is he absent?"

Sora turned around in his seat and paled when he saw his cousin's usual spot was still empty. He turned back to face Dr. Xehanort and said, "I-I dunno where he is. He came to school with me this morning, he must be here somewhere—"

"Skipping class, is he?" Dr. Xehanort said darkly, "Once he shows up, he'll wish that idea had never crossed his mind!"

"I don't think he's skipping," Sora quickly cut in, "He seemed kinda sick this morning, but he still wanted to come to school. Maybe he got worse—"

"Ah, kids these days, so unversed in discipline," Dr. Xehanort muttered. He quickly finished taking attendance and addressed the class: "I will be right back, I need to go to the nurse and check to see what trouble Roxas had gotten himself into. Work on these problems in the meantime!" He dashed off a few page numbers and problems on the whiteboard and left the classroom.

It took only seconds for the class to dissolve into a social gathering. Everyone started up their conversations from before class and the noise level went up exponentially. Riku opened his textbook and poured over the problems, keeping to himself like he always did. An odd scuffling noise just outside the window pulled him out of the world of numbers. He glanced around; no one else had heard the sound.

Riku quietly shut his textbook and slid out of his seat, peering out the window. Someone was making a moogle snowman just outside Riku's window. That someone was also wearing a black and white checkerboard scarf. Roxas stepped back to admire his handiwork, stuck an old tennis ball on a stick to place on top of the moogle's head, and sat down in the snow.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief and slid open the window. He leaned out over the sill to say hello, but frowned when he saw his quiet friend was shivering. Riku's expression softened and he unwrapped his own yellow scarf from around his neck and draped it on Roxas's shoulders.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Roxas said quietly without looking up.

"I'm not the one sitting outside in the snow."

Roxas hesitated, then reached up and timidly tugged the scarf more tightly around himself. "Larxene was being a bitch," he muttered.

"Enough of a bitch to make you skip class?" Riku said gently, kneeling down to rest his chin in his palms on the sill, "Come on, she's not worth that."

"She's got new material, too. This time it was my dyslexia. At least it's getting a little more creative then my trips to the hospital," Roxas said sarcastically.

Riku gazed sadly down at the blonde boy. He had nothing to say to that. Larxene could be awful sometimes, but Riku wouldn't know; Axel always knew how to shut her up when Riku used to hang out with them.

"What's the point in me going to class, anyway?" Roxas continued, pulling his knees into his chest, "I've missed almost half this semester, I'll be lucky if I don't get held back."

"You won't get held back, I'm sure people've graduated with worse track records. Now get in here, it's freezing."

"No one cares if I'm there."

"I care."

Roxas hugged his knees tighter and looked up at Riku. His blue eyes were glazed over in defeat, and it broke Riku's heart to see them so dull. He smiled and reached out, playfully tugging on Roxas's checkered scarf. "I like the scarf."

"I got some good advice about dressing warmer for school," Roxas said with a teeny smile, "It's been working pretty well."

"Well, you wouldn't really know until you've actually been in school, right?" Riku laughed. He pulled on Roxas's scarf again. "Come on, Dr. Xehanort's going to have a fit if he finds you here."

"Yo, Riku, who're you talking to?" Sora asked loudly, strolling over to him and staring out the window. His eyes widened and he pointed at Roxas, saying, "Roxas! Get in here already! What're you doing, skipping class?"

"Whatever," Roxas said, standing up and brushing snow off of him, "I was about to come in anyway." He grabbed the windowsill and stepped onto it, swinging his other leg over the sill and jumping down into the classroom. He grinned at Riku. "Happy now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Very," Riku responded, grinning back.

"Roxas, you know what happens when you skip class, right?" Sora scolded him, "You already miss a lot in class, and skipping is just—"

"I know," Roxas said quietly, taking his seat next to Riku and staring down at his desk. Riku smirked at the scene of Sora bossing someone else around; it was usually Riku who had to do the bossing around in their trio of friends.

"Guys! Xehanort's coming!" Demyx yelled out at the class from the doorway.

Everyone immediately scrambled into their seats and was dutifully solving the problems in their books when Dr. Xehanort walked in. He glared at Roxas and hissed out, "You sneaky little—"

"Bathroom," Roxas interrupted him. Dr. Xehanort glowered at him for a few seconds more, then decided not to delay the lesson and began teaching. Today was review day before midterms, but Riku amused himself with poking Roxas's head with his pen whenever the blonde started napping on his desk.

Their Post-It conversations for the rest of the day went something like this:

_Thanks but no thanks four interupting my beuty sleep_

_Since when do you need beauty sleep?_

_You woudn't get it, you don't nede any_

Riku practically flew home when the last bell rang that afternoon.

.

Exams week was murderous, but it wasn't the end of the world. Riku made it a habit to stick a good luck Post-It on Roxas's locker every morning before the exams started, and Roxas would respond after the tests with a "thanks" or something similar. Towards the end of the week Riku started finding notes stuck to his locker before the exams started. The inside of his locker door was starting to glow yellow.

After his botany exam on Thursday, Riku was getting ready to leave for the day when Sora tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Riku! How'd the exam go?"

"Pretty sure I did better than you."

"Did not!"

"We'll see after break, won't we?" Riku grinned, "Don't get your hopes up in the meantime!"

Sora made a face. "You still hanging out with us on Christmas?" he asked, rocking back and forth.

"Yeah, of course," Riku said.

"You doing anything else for break?"

"Nah, just spending time with the family, I guess."

Sora stopped rocking and asked absentmindedly, "You sure you're not hanging out with anyone else?"

"What, that some kind of pointed question?" Riku asked warily.

"I dunno, you and Roxas've been talking a lot lately. I saw the notes you guys've been sticking to your lockers, I'd know that handwriting anywhere," Sora grinned.

All the blood drained from Riku's face; paired with his already white hair it gave him a terrified, ghostly appearance. He wracked his brain for something to say, something to get the suspicion away from him, but could only come up with, "I-It's tutoring. What, Roxas never mentioned to you that I was helping him in math?" He laughed nervously.

Sora shook his head and kept grinning. "Nope, Roxas never mentioned that. You _sure_ it's just tutoring?" he teased.

Riku's pale cheeks were starting to warm up again, but he knew they were now turning unnaturally pink. "Y-Yeah, he asked for help before exams," he said, praying Sora's usually oblivious nature would keep him from noticing how uneasy his friend was.

"Roxas hardly ever tells me anything," Sora said, leaning on the bed of lockers next to Riku as he spun the door's lock, "I never hear anything from him unless I ask, and even then it's kinda rare."

"Yeah?" Riku said, yanking his locker open and catching a binder as it slipped off his backpack.

Sora shrugged, then looked over at Riku. His eyes traveled to the inside of the locker door, and at that moment Riku wanted to throw himself in front of a bus for how dumb a move that had been. Sora's eyes lit up and he grinned mischievously, pointing at the glowing array of yellow Post-Its. He opened his mouth to speak, but in one swift motion Riku slammed his locker shut and tackled Sora to the floor, clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Don't you dare," Riku hissed, sitting on top of him and narrowing his eyes.

Sora raised an eyebrow at Riku, then twisted to land a swift kick to Riku's back, which Riku blocked but still sent him tumbling across the floor. Sora scooted over to the lockers and leaned against the cold metal. He gave Riku a look, threw back his head and laughed.

Riku jumped up onto his feet again and glared down at Sora. "What, see something funny?" he asked testily.

Sora kept laughing until Riku just wanted to punch him to shut him up, but gradually he calmed down enough to say, "Funny? Dude, I don't even know—ha ha! —You've been _saving_ those? That's not just 'tutoring', man, unless you're some kinda stalker," he giggled, "Then things'd get ugly, no one stalks my cousin."

"I'm not stalking anyone!" Riku shouted, and immediately half the people in earshot turned around to stare at the odd scene unfolding between those two crazy friends. Riku planted a foot on Sora's shoulder and pushed him over, then glanced around awkwardly and plopped down on the floor next to him.

Sora sat up again and rubbed his shoulder. "So what is it?" he asked quietly, watching other students mill by on their ways home, "I mean, 'tutors' don't save every. One. Of their students' notes."

Riku sighed and scratched his head. "I dunno what it is, actually," he finally admitted, "I mean, it did start off as tutoring, he wanted help in trig. Then I guess it just ended up being how we talk."

Sora gave Riku a pitying look and said, "Aw man, you're in sophomore year, Riku, and you're still talking to your crushes like you're a fifth grader!"

"It's not a crush!" Riku responded a little too quickly, glancing around worriedly, "Quit talking like that, Sora, your idiot is showing!"

"It's cool," Sora said, clapping a hand on Riku's shoulder, "I mean, Roxas is my cousin and everything, so I'll have to keep close tabs on you guys—just making sure you're not being too much of a creep, y'know. But it's all good, you have my approval," he added with a wink. "Hey, I'm kinda glad it's actually you instead of that Axel guy. You're better for him anyway, none of that gang stuff anymore." With that, he jumped back up onto his feet, grabbed his backpack, and bounded off to where Kairi was waiting for him with Naminee.

"Damn it," Riku grumbled to himself, slamming the locker bed with his fist and pulling himself up to standing. How could he have been so stupid as to let Sora in on this? "Shit," he cursed again under his breath as he opened his locker again and packed up to leave and begin his winter break, "So much for keeping that one on the down low."

"Keeping what on the down low?"

Riku jumped and almost dropped his backpack. He slowly closed his locker and swung around to greet Roxas with what he hoped was a totally unassuming expression. Speak of the devil. "Nothing," he said with a half smile, "Hey, Roxas."

"Hi," Roxas replied with a warm smile of his own, "Did your exam go okay?"

Riku was about to ask why he hadn't written him a note and had instead actually approached him, but he didn't feel like shoving his foot in his mouth again before the day was up. "Went pretty well, hope there're no surprises when the professor grades them. You?"

Roxas shrugged, "Good enough."

Riku glanced around quickly. The hall was nearly empty now, with most of the students already off to celebrate the end of exams. He took a deep breath and met Roxas's gaze to ask, "You want to hang out today? I just remembered I need to pick up some gifts and… it kinda sucks having to shop by myself. Don't know what to get." Hey, it never hurt to ask.

Roxas was practically glowing; Riku had to admit he hadn't ever seen the blonde boy's face light up like that. Or anyone else's, for that matter. "Sure!" he chirped, hugging his white winter coat around him, "Maybe I can go shopping, too. I still have a gift to get."

Riku smiled and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Okay, let's get going," he said, leading the way down the hall to the door with a bounce in his step that definitely hadn't been there before. Roxas fell into step beside him, and before Riku knew what he was doing he slipped his hand into Roxas's. The beating of his heart and the bounce in his step only increased when Roxas closed his fingers around his.

.

The two boys walked down the street, shoppers dodging them as they dashed every which way to snatch up holiday bargains. Riku looked over at Roxas and raised an eyebrow. "How can you stand to eat that stuff now?" he teased, "It's the middle of winter!"

Roxas took another bite out of his ice cream and looked back at Riku like he'd just asked him if cows could talk. "You kidding? I could eat this stuff all day, it's the best," he said, "Sea salt flavor, want some?" He offered the popsicle to Riku, who made a face and shook his head. Roxas shrugged and continued eating it. "Suit yourself."

Riku glanced into the windows of the shops they passed. He was almost done shopping for gifts, he just needed something for— "Hey, let's go in here," he said suddenly, grabbing Roxas by the sleeve and pulling him into a jeweler's shop. He led the blonde boy over to a small display in the bay window and pointed out a necklace draped over the center black velvet stand. It was a silver key, strung up on a chunky silver chain. "How's that?" Riku asked, "For Sora."

Roxas scrutinized it for a moment, as if he were a seasoned auctioneer considering a priceless work of art, then looked up at Riku and bobbed his head up and down. "Yeah, that's perfect for him," he said, then wandered over to another display of earrings. "Oh, are these good for Kairi? She likes flowers, doesn't she?"

Riku joined him at the display and picked up the earrings Roxas had pointed out. He had a good eye for this, the earrings were very pretty—pink, her favorite color. "Yeah, she'll like them a lot," Riku said, plucking them off their stand and taking them with the key necklace to the register to pay.

The two of them continued down the row of shops for a few minutes more in awkward silence. Eventually Riku mustered up the guts to actually break the silence with, "Hey, didn't you need to get a gift for someone, too?"

Roxas smiled quietly to himself and watched the sidewalk slide away under their feet. "…yeah."

Yes! Point of conversation! "Okay, where should we start?" Riku asked, excited to have a task to focus on, "What does the person like?"

"I…I'm not really sure, actually," Roxas said, "I've tried asking people, but they haven't really told me anything specific. Or anything I can afford, anyway."

"Hmm… okay," Riku said, mentally making lists in his head of possible cheap gifts this mystery person could find appealing. Books, video games, novelty shit… "I mean, it's kinda hard to just guess a gift if I've got nothing to go on," he said, "Give me a hint?"

Roxas smiled that reserved, knowing smile again and said, "He's really smart, and he likes puzzles. I think his favorite color is yellow."

They were walking through a small square now, adorned with pine garlands and twinkle lights. Christmas carols were playing from the speakers on the lampposts, and the melting snow sloshed and squished underfoot. Riku shoved his hands in his coat pockets and thought long and hard. Geez, he was grasping at straws here, a puzzle book? Sudoku? Who was this guy, anyway, Roxas never mentioned having many close friends. "What about—"

Roxas suddenly reached up on tiptoe and pecked Riku softly on the lips. It was over before he even realized it had happened, but as Roxas gazed down at the pavement, then back up at him with a shy smile, it began to register with him. Roxas had just kissed him. And Riku couldn't have been happier.

Neither one of them had to say anything to explain. Riku leaned down and kissed Roxas back, closing his eyes and lingering on his soft lips for a moment after he pulled away. Roxas bounced up and down on his toes and looked up at Riku hopefully. "Was that an okay gift?" he asked.

Riku smiled and pressed his forehead to Roxas's, breathing in the scent of pine wafting around them. "Yeah," he whispered, "It was perfect."

Roxas laughed quietly and threw his arms around Riku's neck, gazing up at him with his wide, striking electric blue eyes. "Merry Christmas, Riku," he said, kissing him again.

"Merry Christmas, Roxas."

* * *

><p>Who says the holidays can't be year round? Hope you enjoyed it, I really liked writing the dialogue for this one. Thanks for reading!<p> 


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